We were so lucky to meet Mahalakshmi Nagarajan (Maha for short) when she and her friend came into MAZU last summer. Instantly, we bonded over jabbering about the incredible spectrum of Indian food, and Maha’s plethora of Indian home cooking recipes from the last 40 years. Now we are thrilled to be hosting Maha as a guest chef at MAZU! The dinner will be next Tues, June 4, 630-8 PM, $55/pp. This menu is stunning:
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The appetizer “Pakoras” are made with chickpea flour, rice flour, and corn flour with onions and spinach, carom seeds, cayenne pepper and salt and are deep fried. The chutney is cilantro, red onion and lemon juice.
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The salad is shredded carrots, soaked split mung beans garnished with lemon juice and cilantro and fried mustard seeds.
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The soup is also called “Rasam” and is made with “Arhar” dal and tomatoes, cumin, pepper and lemon juice, garnished with fried mustard seeds, cumin and cilantro.
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The main course is cumin and saffron Pulao with chick pea curry and tomato onion gravy, called “Chole” which has a whole lot of fresh spices.
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Lastly the dessert is a “Payasam” (South Indian) or “Kheer” (North Indian), made with Vermicelli fried in coconut oil, almond milk and ground almonds, sugar, garnished with saffron, cardamon, cashews and raisins.
In Maha’s words: “I am a retired professor of Biology from Wilberforce University who loves to create art and food. The sheer lack of good restaurants and the love of food in the 80’s in Columbus Ohio, forced me to try my hand at cooking and this led to cooking meals for my family and friends. Over the years I have learned there is nothing better than a home cooked meal, even the simplest kind! Indian cooking by and large can be completely vegan and gluten free if you desire. Today is a mix of North Indian and South Indian cuisine. South Indian cooking is rice based and North Indian cooking is more wheat based! Since Mazu is a vegan restaurant, I had to tweak some of the recipes but that did not alter the taste!”
